Many conventional outdoor air-conditioning units include one or more fans that draw supply air in horizontally from one side, exchange heat with the supply air, and then discharge the modified air (heated or cooled) out horizontally at an opposite side. For example, a conventional heat pump (used as an air conditioner) operating to cool an inside space in a building would draw in air at an outside temperature horizontally at inputs of one or more fans, exchange heat with the supply air, thus raising the temperature of the air, and then discharge the heated air as output air horizontally at outputs of the one or more fans. Similarly, if the air conditioner were used to heat the inside space, the discharged output air would be cooler than the supply air.
In this way, the conventional air conditioner (e.g., heat pump) will have a steady stream of supply air coming in horizontally at one side, and a steady stream of output air passing out horizontally at the opposite side. Furthermore, there will be a temperature differential between the supply air and the output air, based on the mode that the air conditioner is operating in (heating or cooling).
One issue that arises with air conditioners having horizontal-facing fans is that the fans require a minimum distance between the output of the fans and any obstruction (e.g., a wall, shrubbery, etc.) This distance can be on the order of three or four feet, limiting the placement of the air conditioner and requiring a relatively large open space for its installation.
In some circumstances, it is desirable for a building or set of buildings to have multiple air conditioners set up to service them. In such circumstances an array of air conditioners is used to heat/cool the building or buildings. However, because of the clearance requirements for the air conditioners, the space required for this air-conditioning array can be relatively large. Furthermore, the clearance requirements can be significantly greater if the air output of one air conditioner faces the air input of another air conditioner.
Because a conventional air conditioner typically operates by exchanging heat with the supply air, it is important that the supply air for an air conditioner be at a temperature as close as possible to the desired inside temperature. For example, if the air conditioner is operating in a cooling mode, it is desirable to keep the supply air as cool as possible. Since the output air for an air conditioner has already been involved in a heat transfer, this means that the output air from one air conditioner is typically not well suited as supply air for another air conditioner.
As a result of this, a greater clearance is required between the air output of one air-conditioning unit and the air input of another air-conditioning unit. This distance can be on the order of ten feet, and can significantly limit the placement of multiple outdoor air conditioners and require very large spaces to provide an air conditioner array.
Furthermore, this often means that it is desirable to arrange air conditioners in an array such that they are not facing in the same direction (i.e., so that their air outputs do not face the air inputs of other air conditioners in the array). Since the air conditioners in the array are often the same type of device, this means that the air conditioners are often placed such that power and refrigerant inputs for the various air conditioners are arranged to face in different directions, which requires additional piping and cabling to provide the necessary connections to the air-conditioning devices.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a way in which the required clearance for air conditioners was reduced, allowing for a higher density of air conditioners in an air-conditioning array. It would also be desirable to provide a way in which air conditioners could be arranged in an array in the same orientation to allow for their power and refrigerant connections to all face in the same direction.